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On Thursday, October 29, DXCEL and City Weekend concluded their month-long “Beerjing” promotion at Danger Doyle’s. As a new member of the DXCEL Beijing team, I was pouring beers for everybody alongside our regional manager, Simon Pendergast. In addition to the beers promoted all month, we also poured several beers that DXCEL does not usually carry. Some were very localized imports, or used very unusual ingredients. These included Young’s Double Chocolate Stout, Well’s Banana Bread Beer, Chalky’s Bite by Sharps (uses fennel seed), and Marston’s Oyster Stout. Amongst the attendees were Beijing Boyce and City Weekend staff, as well as the winners of the Beerjing “Passport”, where patrons had to collect stamps from participating venues all month long. (Update: Thanks to Jim Boyce for the photos. Also, I have decided not to do a full write-up at this time. If anybody has any questions about the beers featured or that you see in the photos, please feel free to leave a comment/question or contact me directly.)

When I returned from my visit to the US, there was only a few days left of the “Oktoberfest” (from the 9th to 25th) at Beijing’s Paulaner Bräuhaus (普拉纳啤酒坊) in the Kempinski Hotel/Lufthansa Center. The place is expensive, and the food is merely better-than-average (for a western restaurant in China). But I really wanted to get another taste of some of the best Märzenbier I’ve actually ever tasted ANYWHERE. Granted, I’ve never had the pleasure of going to Munich itself, but I’d had the Marzenbier here in Beijing for the past two years, and it was great both times. Last year, I even wrote a glowing review of it. Meanwhile, the mini-tent was booked weeks ahead of time, so I couldn’t get a seat. But I did manage to peek in and take some pictures: Read more…

For much of September and October, I was back in my home state of Massachusetts, visiting family and handling personal matters. Towards the end of my stay, there were two events of note. One was the two-day Belgian Beer Fest in Boston, and the other was the limited, brewery-only release of Allagash Brewing Co’sVagabond Ale in Portland, Maine. I was actually a member of the volunteer staff at the festival. Lots of great Belgian and Belgian-inspired beer, with a chance to taste some very rare and intriguing beers, particularly those fermented with wild yeasts and bacteria.